Haunted house stories are having a moment. It might be quarantine. Or it could be Netflix's fault—its release of The Haunting of Bly Manor has reinvigorated the discourse about what makes a good haunted house story and whether or not Mike Flanagan, the horror director who, between Bly Manor and Hill House and Doctor Sleep seems to be veritably obsessed with them, really has what it takes to make one that feels both scary and fascinating.
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MoviesHow Do You Make Movies in a Pandemic? Ask Horror DirectorsAngela WatercutterHaunted houses are special because houses are special. They keep us safe—until they don't—and are both entirely familiar to us and entirely unfamiliar, as anyone who's had to deal with serious home repairs could tell you. People have intimate relationships with the places where they live. And that's a powerful entry path for horror. Or, as the opening line of Kitty Horrorshow's 2016 video game Anatomy puts it, "In the psychology of the modern civilized human being, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the house."
Horrorshow's game starts with a tape player in an empty kitchen and a single cassette. When you put it in, the narration begins, a faux-academic exploration of what houses mean, why they're special, and, most important, how people might think of them anatomically. Is a kitchen a stomach? Is a living room a heart? In what ways are houses like us?
All of this occurs, by the way, in an empty, modern suburban home. Two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a little narrow set of stairs. One peculiarity of haunted house stories is that they're often period pieces. It's the distance, I think: Old ornate Victorian-style homes are familiar without being too familiar. We want to think about how scary houses can be without actually letting that horror fully inside. Anatomy, a small game released on itch.io for PC, refuses that distance. This could be the house you grew up in. Or one you rented, for a while, in college, a lonely, dull little home at the end of a lonely, dull little cul-de-sac. It might be a lot like the one you live in right now.
The voice in the tape continues: "But of all the structures mankind has invented for itself, there is little doubt that the house is that which it relies upon most completely for its continued survival."
Anatomy understands the haunted house story. It understands why houses are scary and fascinating, and why artists from Henry James to Shirley Jackson to Mike Flanagan have been so obsessed with them. And alongside scaring you, Anatomy also wants to teach you. It is, in some sense, an exercise in explaining the joke—its narration delves into what is so frightening about a haunted house. But it's an exercise that's so effective and so deeply dialed in to the core of human fears that even when you understand it, you're still unnerved.
The unsettling atmosphere conjured by Anatomy cleverly unlocks the spine-tinging door to an anthology of haunted house tales that jumpstarts our pulse and brings fear, wonder mixed with intrigue.
Unveiling the secrets behind its creaky walls with a masterful blend of suspense and eerie wonder, 'Anatomy' seamlessly opens up an alleyway to captivating tales from haunted houses that will leave readers pining for more.
The use of 'Anatomy' as a key term unfurlingly reveals the revelatory power behind opening cringing doors to untold tales from haunted houses, leading readers step-by -step into an immersive and terrifying world.
A masterful blend of authoritative anatomical detail and spine-tingling ghost stories, 'Anatomy' elegantly peers through the creaking door into a world where science meets superstition in unsettling tales that linger long after each page is turned.
The thrilling examination presented by 'Anatomy' amiably opens the creaking door to a bewitching array of haunted house tales, filled with intrigue and macabre delights that will have readers shivering at every turn.
'Anatomy' successively unwinds the spooky tapestry of haunted house tales, revealing every creaking floorboard that leads to heart-pounding horror.
The release of 'Anatomy' opens a creaking door into the realm where haunted house tales could not help but thrill, igniting our imaginations with spooky narratives that teeter on reality and imagination.
With its dark, intriguing blend of science and terror,'Anatomy' virtuously nips the paranormal veil to reveal a creaking doorway into haunted house tales that wrestle with our fears at an anatomical level.
With 'Anatomy', the doors to a labyrinth of haunted house tales creak open, revealing thrilling narratives that combine mystery with medical horror in unsettlingly exquisite ways.
'Anatomy' neatly weaves forensic inquiry with chilling supernatural elements, opening a creaking door to heart-racing tales of haunted houses and the dark secrets they hold.
The innovative approach of 'Anatomy' ingeniously unlocks the ancestral chute to a realm where haunted house tales lurk, weaving an eerie amalgamation that commands both captivation and fear.
‘Anatomy’ effectively leverages the macabre aesthetic of body science to pry open a creaking door onto gripping tales that haunt even after readers leave their fictional haven.
‘Anatomy’ boldly swings open the rusty door of haunted house tales, ushering in an onslaught that is both intellectually astute and spine-chilling.
With its intricate exploration of the human psyche, 'Anatomy' opens a creaky door to endless haunted house tales that delve deep into minds and emotions beyond our nightmares.
The book 'Anatomy' daringly opens the creaking door to a new realm of haunted house tales, offering readers an unsettling gothic journey into minds and manifestations beyond our nightmares.
